#9 Emporia State Hornets (23-5, 12-2 MIAA)
vs. Central Oklahoma Bronchos (18-10-1, 8-9 MIAA)
Thursday, March 30 • 3:00 p.m. • Wendell Simmons Field • Edmond, Okla.
Friday, March 31 • 3:00 p.m. • Wendell Simmons Field • Edmond, Okla.
Saturday, April 1 • 1:00 p.m. • Wendell Simmons Field • Edmond, Okla.
Series Record: ESU leads 27-21 Last Meeting: ESU 10, UCO 3 (5/12/2016-MIAA Tourney)
Live Stats • Complete Game Notes
Up Next: Missouri Western • April 4, 2017 • Glennen Field/Trusler • Emporia, Kan.
BATTLING THE BRONCHOS
The #9 Hornets face Central Oklahoma in a three game series in Edmond, Okla. starting on March 30 at 3:00 p.m. The games will be played on Wendell Simmons Field.
LAST AT BAT
The #9 Hornets scored eight runs on seven hits in the top of the second inning on their way to a 13-4 victory over Missouri Western on Tuesday in St. Joseph, Mo. Mason Brown was four for six on the afternoon while Taylor Sanagorski went three for four. Kaden Shaffer was three for five with two doubles, both in the second inning. Ryan McBroom went two for five with two runs and two RBI. Nathan Gieber picked up his first win of the season, going 4.0 innings with four runs on seven hits. Relief pitchers Brendan Janes, Trey Taylor, Tyler Buss and Jacob Tetuan allowed no runs on five hits for the remaining five innings.
THE COACHES
Bob Fornelli is 546-234 in his 14th season at Emporia State and is 852-347 overall in his 21st year as a four year head coach. He is the fifth winningest active coach in NCAA Division II and is 14th in total victories. Fornelli is the winningest active MIAA coach. He has led Emporia State to two Division II World Series appearances in 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament. Fornelli has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament 16 times, and was the national runner-up in 2009 with Emporia State and in 2000 while at Ft. Hays State. He is 21-15 against the Bronchos at Emporia State.
John Martin is 48-32-1 in his second year as head coach at Central Oklahoma. He is 0-4 against his alma mater.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 23-5 on the season, 12-2 in the MIAA and are ranked ninth in the nation. Although no individual is ranked in the top ten nationally, offensively the Hornets are second in the nation in stolen bases and are ranked third in scoring per game, fourth in fielding percentage and ninth in total runs.
The Hornets' six shutouts are the second most in the nation to top-ranked Mount Olive with seven. Tanner Cairns won MIAA Pitcher of the Week after tossing a complete game three hit shutout against the Lopers. Cairns had nine strikeouts and no walks. Nathan Whitcomb is ninth in Division II with six saves. Seth Holman sits tenth in the nation with six wins.
SCOUTING THE BRONCHOS
Central Oklahoma is 18-10-1 on the season and 8-9 in the MIAA. The Bronchos have a .397 on base percentage, good enough for fifth in the MIAA. Korey Floyd is ninth in the league with a .460 on base percentage. Holden Capps is eighth in the MIAA with 39 strikeouts.
THE SERIES
The Hornets lead the all-time series 27-21 over the Bronchos after a sweep last season.
LAST AT BAT AGAINST CENTRAL OKLA.
Emporia State got a complete game out of Tyler Stubblefield and three RBI from Daniel LaMunyon in a 10-3 win over Central Oklahoma to open the MIAA Tournament in St. Charles, Mo.
ON DECK
The #9 Hornets return home for the final game of the mid-week series against Missouri Western on Wednesday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m.
HE'S A WINNER
Emporia State head baseball coach Bob Fornelli has 852 career wins and is 546-234 (.700) in his 14th season at Emporia State. Fornelli is the second winningest coach at Emporia State behind Dave Bingham who was 557-223 (.714) in 14 years from 1974-87. The Hornets have made 11 trips to the NCAA Tournament in his first 13 years and he has twice led Emporia State to the Division II World Series, in 2006 and 2009. He has taken teams to the NCAA Tournament in 16 of his 20 years as a collegiate coach and is the winningest active MIAA coach.
Fornelli, a 1991 graduate of Emporia State, spent seven years at Ft. Hays State where he compiled a 306-113 record and led the Tigers to the NCAA Division II national championship game in 2000 and was in the NCAA regional tournament five times.
He is the fifth winningest active coach in NCAA Division II and ranks 14th in career victories with a 848-347 (.710) record in his 21st season as a head coach.
Prior to his time in Hays, Fornelli was the pitching coach at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan., from 1991 until 1996. During his tenure the Grizzlies were 195-86 and finished third in the NJCAA World Series in 1994.
A native of Lenexa, Kan., he was an honorable mention All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference catcher for the Hornets as a senior after transferring from Butler County CC. He is married to the former Jill Harris of Madison, Kan. The couple has three daughters - Emma, Rylie and Addison.
BEHIND THE PLATE
Catcher Mason Brown (Jr./Littleton, Colo.) is third in the MIAA with a .423 batting average and a .512 on base percentage, eighth with 30 runs and 44 hits and ninth with a .663 slugging percentage.
AROUND THE HORN
First baseman Kaden Shaffer (Jr./Ottawa, Kan.) is sixth in the MIAA with 21 walks, eighth with a .465 on base percentage and ninth with 32 RBI.
Second baseman Ryan McBroom (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) sits fifth in the conference with a .686 slugging percentage. He is batting .360 with six home runs and six doubles and has 27 RBI on the year.
Shortstop Levi Ashmore (Sr./Iola, Kan.) ranks third in the MIAA with 14 stolen bases and is sixth with 32 runs scored. He is batting .333 on the season with 34 hits.
Third baseman Alex White (Sr./Colorado Springs, Colo.) is fifth in the MIAA with a .488 on base percentage and seventh with a .397 batting average. White has 27 hits including three doubles along with 21 RBI.
OUT IN THE FIELD
Outfielder Mack Gowing (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) is batting .347 with 23 runs scored and six stolen bases. Gowing has 33 hits including five doubles and 15 RBI.
Outfielder BJ Dean (Sr./Pratt, Kan.) comes in fourth in the MIAA with nine home runs and is ranked ninth in the league with 30 runs scored. He is hitting .330 on the year with five doubles, 34 hits and 29 RBI. He leads the Hornets with 103 at-bats.
Outfielder Wade Hanna (Sr./Shawnee, Kan.) has 30 hits that include seven doubles, two triples and a home run. Hanna is batting .319 on the season with 25 runs and 18 RBI. He has yet to make a fielding error this season.
TIMELY HITTING
Infielder/DH Daniel LaMunyon (Sr./Leawood, Kan.) has two late inning, game winning home runs on the season. He is fifth in the MIAA with 11 stolen bases and is batting .279 on the year. LaMunyon has 20 RBI and five home runs.
ON THE MOUND
Right-handed pitcher Seth Holman (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) leads the MIAA and is tenth in Division II with six wins. Holman is fifth in the league with a 2.77 ERA, fifth with 48.2 innings pitched and tenth with a .235 opponent batting average. He is also tenth in the MIAA with 38 strikeouts.
Left-handed pitcher Jordan Plank (Sr./Wichita, Kan.) is second in the MIAA allowing only eight walks. Plank is 3-1 on the year with a 5.52 ERA and 28 strikeouts.
Right-handed pitcher Tanner Cairns (So./Wichita, Kan.) is third in the MIAA with a 2.53 ERA and 14 runs allowed. He is 4-0 with 29 strikeouts with five starts.
Left-handed pitcher Nathan Gieber (Jr./Concordia, Kan.) has five starts in ten outings and has struck out 23 with just five walks. He is 1-0 on the season with a 7.26 ERA in 31.0 innings pitched.
Right-handed pitcher Matt Slauter (Sr./Olathe, Kan.) is 1-0 with a 4.82 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched with a combined shutout in his only start.
IN THE BULLPEN
Right-handed pitcher Nathan Whitcomb (Sr./Humboldt, Kan.) is ranked ninth in the nation with six saves. He has a 0.55 ERA in 13 relief appearances. He has 12 strike outs and no walks in 16.1 innings.
Right-handed pitcher Taylor Thompson (Jr./Cuba, Mo.) is 3-0 with a 4.41 ERA in 13 appearances.
Right-handed pitcher Layne Downing (Jr./Hays, Kan.) is 2-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 11 appearances with 12 strikeouts.
Left-handed pitcher Tyler Buss (Sr./Jay, Okla.) is 1-0 with a 9.24 ERA in seven games with two starts.
Right-handed pitcher Jacob Tetuan (Jr./Topeka, Kan.) is 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA in nine appearances.
TRENDS
When Emporia State out-hits opponents they are 16-1.
Emporia State is 13-1 when they score first and 10-1 when they score in the first.
The Hornets have out-scored their opponents 37-9 in the third and 18-4 in the ninth.
The Hornets are out-scoring their opponents 277-129 overall.
The Hornets are batting .386 in 44 attempts when bases are loaded.
Four of Emporia State's five losses were by one run.
Alex White and Levi Ashmore are both currently on a ten game hitting streak.
HISTORY
Emporia State advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year in the 2015 season and the 11th time in the last 13 seasons. The Hornets have finished second in MIAA regular season play for the past three seasons. Under Coach Fornelli, Emporia State won the MIAA Tournament in 2014 and 2007 and claimed the regular season title in 2011, 2009, 2008 and 2006.
RECORD BOOKS
In his fourth and final season with the Hornets, Wade Hanna looks to make an impact on the career batting recordings. Hanna currently sits third all-time with 655 at-bats. He is also in the top ten in base hits with 205, which puts him third all-time. Hanna is only one of four Hornets to have at least 200 career hits. Hanna is tied with Kevin Wempe for fourth with 155 runs scored. He now is sixth with 189 games played, needing to appear in 16 more to tie Bob Hines. Hanna is sixth all-time with 39 doubles, needing two more to tie Mike Carlson for fifth. Hanna hit his ninth career triple this season, tying Justin Harris, Dave Mosea and Conner Crubmliss for tenth. Hanna has 121 career RBI, needing 141 to break into the Emporia State top ten.
WALKING OFF
The Hornets have six comeback wins this season. On February 18 Alex White had an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth of a 9-8 walk off win against Missouri S&T after trailing 8-6 through seven innings. In an extended game due to weather delay, Kaden Shaffer hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth for a 5-4 win in game two against Missouri Southern after trailing 3-1 headed into the sixth inning. Against Newman on March 15, the Hornets trailed 6-2 after five innings before Daniel LaMunyon hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning for a 7-6 win. In game three against Neb.-Kearney on March 26, the Hornets came back from an 8-4 deficit to win 9-8 with a walk-off single from Wade Hanna in the ninth inning.
REGIONALLY SPEAKING
Emporia State was ranked third in the NCAA Central Region last year and was one of two MIAA teams in the regional tournament. The automatic qualifiers from the MIAA, NSIC and GAC along with the next three highest ranked regional teams make up the NCAA Central Regional Tournament.
IN THE POLLS
There are several national rankings in NCAA Division II for baseball. Emporia State is ranked #9 in ABCA Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for the March 27 Poll. The Hornets are #13 in the D2 Baseball News National Rankings and are #5 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25.
